Always
by Runnerload
Summary: When Eric loses his memory Nell has to help him remember the years that he has forgotten and that won't be any easy task...
1. Chapter 1

Always

Chapter 1

Four Years the two techs from the NCIS Office of Special Projects had been together and they still were freshly in love like it was at the start of their relationship. All their colleagues even Hetty were now greeting them with Miss and Mister Beale, like the two had already married but they surely had agreed to wait some more time because they didn't want to rush anything even if they were pretty sure that they wanted to spent the rest of their lives together.

The two had finally moved into one apartment, surely that didn't come without problems: like Eric didn't want to do any housework at first to help Nell out at least a little bit. That caused a long fight between the two, nobody wanting to make a compromise but in the end Eric finally relented because he really wanted this to work and it things shouldn't really end in a total disaster between them just because of the laziness he sometimes used to have. Even if their job was quite time consuming, Eric did his best to help Nell out with the housework like washing the dishes and she was very happy in the end that they finally agreed on this topic. The two were sitting at the breakfast table, enjoying this time in the morning they had to themselves very much and sometimes Nell had to be the one to remind him that they couldn't be late to work when Eric was sometimes getting a little too comfortable cuddling with her in bed. Nell softly wiped some marmalade off one side of Eric's lip with her thumb and as he wanted to softly grab her hand and kiss it, she immediately stopped him by saying: "No No! We don't have time for that Beale, finish your breakfast because we can't be late for work or else Hetty is going to kill us."

"Sorry for that Rockstar but sometimes I can't control myself, when you touch me that way." Eric replied and now had that puppy dog eyes look on his face where Nell just couldn't be so much mad at him anymore. Eric could be very silly sometimes, but he was also very good lightening up her when she had a bad day at work, when she felt that the stress was just too much for her. Finally the two left the apartment, got into the red Mini Cooper from Nell, on the drive they talked a little about the wonderful dinner they had at that new Italian Restaurant that had just opened near their apartment.

"Luigi's is definitely going to be our hangout because you can get the best Italian Food ever in LA." Nell said as she was busy with navigating through the slow morning traffic on the way to the NCIS OSP Office. "Yes, I definitely agree with you on that Rockstar and I really love Luigi's Salami Pizza."

Eric replied with a big smile on his face and was a little bit sad, that they didn't have so much time to eat at their new favorite Italian restaurant because of their pretty time consuming job at NCIS.

Nell then finally parked her red mini cooper near to the OSP, as they had finally arrived at their destination and Eric took Nell's hand into his as they walked together through the doors of the Mission. The first person who saw them was Sam, who was sitting at his desk right now next to others colleagues Deeks, his partner Callen and Kensi: "Good morning Mister and Misses Beale how is our dynamic geek duo from OPS today?"

Nell and Eric just laughed at this whole Mister and Misses Beale thing, because that's had been a kind of running gag under their colleagues since the two techs from OPS had officially started dating and then Eric finally replied first: "I'm doing very good today, thanks for asking Sam and how about you?"

"I'm doing fine also, me and Eric where having dinner at a very nice Italian restaurant near to our apartment." Nell then added and meanwhile let go off Eric's hand. All of their colleagues were totally happy for them because in the end, they had all thought that the two geeks from OPS would get together as a couple in the end and that they were definitely meant to be together.

"I hope that you have paid the bill at the restaurant like a real gentleman do for his lady?" Kensi asked with a grin on her face and thought to herself: _*they just look so cute together* _

"Of course I have done that like the true gentleman I am." Eric stated and then the two finally went up to OPS because their soon would be a new case and they didn't get paid for just standing at the bullpen and talking with their colleagues. As the two were finally alone in the big tech room, Nell got out the Oreos that were well hidden at OPS so Hetty wasn't able to find them and feed the first one to Eric.

She wiped a little crumb away from his mouth, because she didn't want anyone to notice that they were eating cookies next to all this sensitive equipment and then Eric also got one Oreo out of the box and softly placed it into her mouth. Nell then gave him a short kiss on his right cheek and then focused on getting some paperwork done. Later Eric then went on a coffee run, to the café just one block away from the OSP Office while Nell was busy with finishing her latest report for Hetty.

Eric thought a lot about the wonderful candle light dinner they had yesterday evening, as was walking on the sidewalk being on the way to his and Nell's favorite café where they got their coffee to go from every morning at work. He could still see a picture in his mind of that gorgeous red dress she wore on that day and that he had spaced for a couple of minutes, not knowing what to say for quite a while because he was just so much amazed of the fact how beautiful she looked on that evening. He then finally arrived at the Café, ordered the two coffees for him and his Rockstar and then anxiously waited to get his order.

_AN: This is the first chapter of my newest Neric Story; I hope you like it, please read and review._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Eric was finally on the way back to the OSP with the two coffees in one hand but as he tried to get to the other side of the street, as he had passed a little electronic store a black SUV came fast around the corner. He tried his best to accelerate his walk, so that he would reach the other side in time before getting hit by the car but unfortunately he tripped over one of his open shoe laces and the car hit him with full force. The police car that were chasing the criminals the whole time of course saw the collision of the stolen vehicle with the pedestrian and so one of the officers immediately grabbed the radio: "Here's Officer Johnson, I need an ambulance at 54th Street one person has been injured."

An hour had passed and Nell began to worry why Eric wasn't back from his coffee run yet, she finally sent the report to Hetty and then grabbed her phone to dial her partner's cell phone number. When Eric's cell went straight to voice mail, she was getting more and more worried and thought: _*Where is he? It usually doesn't take that long for him to get back here and he definitely would have told me, if he took a little detour on the way back to OPS.* _ She tried to push the panic away from her mind because she really felt like was overreacting a little bit and so she thought: _*The café is probably more crowded than and he probably has just forgotten to let me know, that a could a little more longer than usual.* _

After she tried to call her partner one more time an hour later and the phone again went to voicemail, the read headed Intelligence Analyst now really got worried and walked downstairs to the bullpen to notify her colleagues about this: "Eric hasn't come back from a coffee run, first I thought he was just running late but as I called him the second time his cell phone went to voicemail again."

Callen now also got worried about his colleague and then asked Deeks: "Deeks call someone from your Contacts at LAPD to find out if there were any accidents reported in the last hour."

Kensi then accompanied Nell back to OPS because she figured that the Intelligence Analyst didn't want to be alone right now. For quite a while she just stared at the empty next to her and really wished that there was something she could do but all she could think about right now was how badly Eric was injured. Kensi really hated to see Nell this way, because she knew how much of a special connection these two had from the beginning and she surely didn't wish this emotional pain to anyone.

The long silence between the two finally got broken as Nell's cell phone vibrated and she quickly picked it up: "Who is this?"

"Miss Jones this is Doctor Peter Meyers from LA General Hospital, because you're listed as Mister Beale's emergency contact I have tell to tell you: He has been involved in an accident." Nell was pretty shocked as heard this, didn't know how to react for a couple of minutes and it took quite a while for her to digest this information. After she wiped some more tears away, that threatened to come down her cheeks she was finally able to say: "What's his condition right now?"

"Right at this moment Mister Beale is still stable but still unconscious and we can't tell for sure if there has been any long term damage to his body. To know that for sure, we will have to make a couple of tests and that means he will at least have to stay for an entire week in the hospital."

Deeks had finally found out from LAPD that there has been hit and run on 54th Street what was near to the café where Eric was. The black SUV had stolen plates, so it was impossible to LAPD to identify the owner of the car and so the former LAPD Detective walked up the stairs to OPS, but stopped in front of the doors as he heard that Nell was probably on the phone with the hospital.

After Nell had finally ended the call, she told first Kensi what the doctor had all told her and then with a comforting hand on her shoulder the two ladies walked through the doors of OPS, where they met Deeks , who shortly hugged her and then said: "I called one of my contacts at LAPD and Eric has been involved in a hit and run, sadly the plates of the car in question were stolen so the LAPD couldn't identify the owner of the car yet." Nell was pretty shook up by that information from Deeks and of course asked herself: _*was this a targeted attack or was he just at the wrong place at the wrong time?* _She just nodded at him, whispered a thank you in his direction and with Kensi by her side she finally went back downstairs to tell the rest of the team about Eric: "Eric has been involved in a hit and run, his medical condition is stable right now but the doctor isn't sure if there has been any long term damage to his body.

Hetty walked up to Nell from behind her desk, shortly hugged her and said: "You definitely have the rest of the day off Dear and because you're definitely in no condition to drive Agent Blye is going to take you the hospital. Mister Callen, Mister Hannah and Mister Deeks you three work with LAPD to find out if this maybe was a targeted attack because the NCIS can't ignore a possible threat to our security."

The two ladies then left OSP with Kensi's car and all she wanted right was to be by Eric's side till he finally woke up out of his coma. All she was able to ask herself the whole drive to hospital was that one uncomfortable question: Could he have been injured so badly that he would never wake up out of the coma? _*No! I can't think this way already because Eric surely is a fighter and he will definitely wake up out of the coma! He just has to." _

_AN: Thanks to- shitstickz for adding this story to her/his favorite stories list and for adding it to her/his story alert, Thanks to- Sassy Classy NCIS Lover for adding this story to her/his story alert, Thanks to- Stephen Longboard for adding this story to his story alert._

_AN 2: Thanks to- Bard 15 for the very helpful review and I'm of course open for any other suggestions _

_In the future chapters._


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Nell and the rest of the team sat together in a bar in the evening, Deeks was in the middle of giving them the news on Eric's accident from the LAPD: "So according to Officer Peter Johnson, my former colleague the car that was involved in the hit and run belonged to some bank robbers, which had just stolen a lot of cash from the LA National Bank."

"What means for us: It's definitely a LAPD case but are they willing to share their information with us?" Callen then asked who wanted to be kept in the loop by Deeks former employer even if it wasn't an NCIS Case and definitely not believed into any coincidences, especially when it came to one of the members of his team ending up in the hospital on the return from coffee run.

"Yes they're definitely going to keep us in the loop." Deeks answered, shortly sipped on his beer and then looked at Nell who hadn't touched her drink for quite a while and former LAPD officer definitely knew that her partner was on her mind right now.

_Eight hours earlier_

_Nell was so frustrated right now: *All this state of the art high-tech and when I need it the most to help my partner it doesn't help me one bit!* She wanted to help to find this people so bad, that had put Eric into the hospital but today didn't seem to be her day to shine like she always did with her partner by her side. After some little problems at the beginning the two had surely become the dream team of OPS and now when she wanted to be by side of Eric and kind of repay him for all that he had done for her in the past, there wasn't anything she could contribute to apprehending the criminals. _

_She shortly sighed, looked around the large room filled with high tech equipment and of course her look stayed planted on Eric's empty chair for a few minutes before she thought: *I've got to focus on the task at hand because there has to be one way to help in this case.* So she looked at the photos again and again, tried her very best to get a better look at the faces even if the two had done everything to avoid being caught by nearby traffic cams. _

_Meanwhile Deeks arrived at LAPD, because the parking space of his former work place was pretty crowded he first had a very hard time finding a free space and he really wished he would pay his former employer a visit under better circumstances. _

_As he stepped through the doors of the Main LAPD Office, he was immediately greeted by Jennifer Pearson one of the first colleagues that spotted him as he had just walked through the office doors: "Hey Marty what brings you here?" She smiled at him, the two shortly hugged and Deeks finally answered after thinking about the answer for a short time: "Unfortunately I'm not just for fun here, one of my NCIS colleagues was involved in a hit and run and I'm here to check in with Pete Johnson to see what information he has for me." _

"_I'm sorry to hear that Marty, maybe I'll see you around later I've still got some paperwork to do and hopefully your colleague gets better very soon." Pearson said, Deeks thanked her for the good wishes for her colleague and then finally made his way to Johnson's desk at the other end of the large office._

_Meanwhile back at OPS, Nell had finally decided to do something that she had put off already for too long: calling Eric's parents to tell them about their son's accident. _

_She paced around the room for a couple of minutes, till she finally grabbed her cell phone, dialed the number of Eric's parents and hoped that she was able to reach someone. _

"_Hello Nell, it's nice to hear from you and how are you doing today?" Stephanie asked in her usual almost sing song voice and that got a little smile on Nell's face even if the situation wasn't that motivating right now. She took one deep breath and finally said: "Honestly I could be doing better; Eric was involved in a hit and run." Eric's mom was speechless for a couple of minutes and the tone of her voice had now clearly changed as she answered: "What's his medical condition right now? And this whole thing must be also very hard for you, so how are you holding up under these circumstances?" _

"_Right now he still lays in a coma, the doctor doesn't yet how long it will take for him to wake up because he has to wait for the upcoming test results and yes all this is hard for but I know that Eric_

_will get through this." _

_End Flashback_

_AN: Thanks to- Stephen Long Board for reviewing this story and thanks to- Bard 15 for the entire constructive critic in his review. Thanks to- swimgeek 2007 for adding this story to her story alert. Please read and review_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The bank robbers seemed to be very highly trained professionals as the LAPD had finally found the black SUV in a factory inside the industrial part of LA that had been closed many years ago. The SUV was sadly totally wrecked; every possible trace had been destroyed by setting the car on fire which practically left them with nothing in the end.

Nell did her best to focus on her work, but her colleagues could definitely tell that her thoughts were with her partner the most time of the day. Having nothing to do right now, Kensi walked up the stairs to OPS to go visit Nell and to lighten up her mood a little bit. Being totally busy with doing some unfinished paperwork, the red headed Intelligence Analyst was way too distracted to notice the doors to OPS silently opening. Nell was totally shocked at first as she heard someone call her name behind her: "Hey Nell, can we talk for minute?"

She finally swung her chair around, took a minute to recollect herself and then replied:" Sure what's up Kensi?" Nell answered in a non-chalant tone, even if it got more difficult for her to keep her emotional walls up because never ever before did she have that kind of special connection with one of her previous boyfriends.

"With all that has happened the last days, I really think that you need some distraction or you totally over do yourself in the end. We should have a girl's night today because some time out of the office would really be good for you." Kensi could see the doubt on Nell's face, in the Intelligence Analyst mind the imaginary wheels were spinning as she asked herself: *is Kensi right? Am I really over doing it with the work at the office? Maybe it's a good Idea if I accept that offer.*

"You're so right Kensi and thanks for not only being a colleague but also a very good friend since I've started here working at NCIS." Then the two women shortly hugged and before Kensi left OPS again she said:" You're welcome Nell, me and the rest of the team will of course support you through this difficult time and I'll pick you at nine at your apartment."

_Five Days later_

Back at the hospital a nurse was doing a routine check on Eric's condition, but as she was in the middle of replacing the current infusion with a new one the NCIS tech showed some first signs of life as his one of finger on one of his started to slightly move. Four Days had now passed since he had been admitted to the hospital and so far Doctor Myers hadn't been able to say when his patient would wake up out of the coma.

_A few minutes later_

After Doctor Myers had been notified about the change of the medical condition of his patient, he dialed Nell's cell phone number to announce the good news to her.

"That's very good news Doctor Myers and I will be at the hospital as soon as I can." She finally went upstairs and announced to the present team members and Hetty: "Doctor Myers has just called; Eric has finally woken up out if his coma."

Of course she also told Eric's mom and dad of the good news before she finally got in her car, to make her way to LA General Hospital: "I have good news for you, Eric has finally woken up out of the coma."

"That's fantastic, I and Brad will make our way to the hospital right away and we will be meeting you there." Stephanie Beale answered, Nell finally ended the call and with a big smile on her face she finally got into her car to make her way to the hospital.

Eric had been so much confused as he finally woken up, of course he first asked the Doctor: "Why am I here?" "Mister Beale you were involved in a hit and run on your way back from café to your workplace." A lot of questions popped up in his head: _*I was at a Café? Weird the last thing that I remember is that I had dinner with sister.* _but instead of saying out loud what he had been thinking he said: "I don't remember going to a café today." Doctors Myers wasn't surprised of that, he had assumed that neurological damage could have caused amnesia but now he had to figure out how it was: "Do you know what date we have today Mister Beale?" Eric didn't have to think to long about that one, so he immediately answered: "Today is June 3rd, 2003."

"No Mister Beale today is May 24th 2011 and what is the last thing that you remember?" Eric was now completely silent for a few minutes and he clearly didn't like the realization that now dawned on his mind: He had lost parts of his memory. Doctor Myers could clearly sense, that all this was pretty hard to take and after a few minutes of silence he finally said: "I've had a lot of patients with amnesia in the past, so if you need some time to digest all this I can make sure that you have some time for yourself in the next days."

Later Nell and Eric's parents finally met up in front of Eric's hospital room, all three of them anxiously waiting for the doctor to come out and update them on his medical condition. A few minutes later Doctor Myers finally came out of the room and said: "Mister and Miss Beale, I'm Eric Beale's Doctor Pete Myers and besides of the good news I also have one bad news for you: What I already had assumed from the test results sadly became reality, your son has lost parts of his memories."

"Can you say if that memory loss will be permanent?" Eric's mother asked the doctor, her motherly instinct kicking in at once of course as she heard that devastating news on her son's medical condition.

"I can't tell you that right now Miss Beale, some more tests need to be done tomorrow and you go see your son today but don't stay too long." Doctor Myers replied and had a short look at his clipboard to go over the neurological test result one more time.

_AN: Thanks to- Densi, TIVA, Mc Abby & Neric 4 ever for reviewing this story, Thanks to- Bard 15 for reviewing this story and thanks to- Sassy Classy NCIS LA Lover for reviewing this story. I hope you like this chapter, please read and review._


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Nell in the end had decided to wait outside for Eric's parents because she figured, it would be better for her to protect herself from any emotional harm that happens. Now she just needed some time for herself to let this entire thing sink in: Eric probably not being able to remember her, how could she help him remembering all this wonderful time they had spent together as partners at and later lovers?

Meanwhile in Eric's room he and his parents where in the middle of talking: "It's good to see you Mom and Dad, I really can't believe that I've lost some of my memory." Eric said and let out a small sigh, what resulted in his mom, who sat directly next to his bedside softly taking his hand and replying: "I know it's hard for you to accept all this, but me and your dad will be there for you the entire time to support you and this memory loss won't be permanent." Eric shortly sighed because all of this really frustrated him so much, knowing that he had lost a large portion of his memory and not knowing when all this was going to come back.

Eric just stared out of the window for quite a while, not knowing what to exactly respond to that for now because he still couldn't really believe that he lost so much of his memory. He took one deep breath and finally asked: "Dad, Mom when was that dinner with Laura what is the last thing that remember before I woke up here?"

"That dinner was eight years ago, on the evening before she left LA for her new job at Portland." Brad Beale answered his son's question and then he added: "But you two stayed in contact as good as possible over the years even if you had rarely any free time on your time consuming government job." Eric took his time to let this all sink in for a few minutes and thought: _*I can't believe it's been eight years since that dinner with Laura! Why do I remember that like it was yesterday?* _

"Can you tell me what happened in all these years in my life? I really want to know everything you can tell me." Stephanie Beale looked at her husband for support, doubting a little bit if it was such a good idea to flood his mind with too much information and maybe also upset him.

Mister Beale then just nodded to his wife, telling her that it was okay to tell him and finally said: "You have a girlfriend for four years her name is Nell Jones and she works together with you." Eric had a blank expression on his face because that name clearly didn't rang a bell, so with a lot of disbelieve in his voice he replied: "That really can't be, I've always worked alone very well and I have been a very happy single man for a couple of years because my last two relationships hadn't ended so well."

On the other end of the door Nell couldn't resist doing some eavesdropping on the door and even if she had expected it, she had to admit that it hurt very much deep down but she was determined not to let her emotions get the best of her.

_One Week later_

The entire week had been very busy for the entire team but especially for Nell, who had a lot more to do with Eric still being in the hospital. She could feel how her eyes kept wanting to close, even if she had drunk a lot of coffee during the whole week but it seemed that wasn't working as well as it supposed to be. Nell rubbed her eyes shortly, mentally telling herself: _*I have to stay focused on the task at hand, the team needs me at my best.* _

She took another sip from her almost empty coffee mug and she wasn't sure how much she already had drunk of it today or this whole week to be more specific because she had stopped counting them a long time ago. Nell was so caught up in her work that she didn't notice the little mighty Operations Manager Hetty sneak up on her like a ninja and practically got a little heart attack as she heard someone say behind her: "Miss Jones, can we talk for a minute?"

After Nell had recollected herself from the first shock she replied: "Of course we can, what do you want to talk about Hetty?"

"I'm a little worried about your well-being dear, because as I surveyed you closely since Mister Beale's absence from work you've been struggling with the work load and I really think you should take some time off to recharge your batteries. "

Nell wanted to say something but was quickly cut off by Hetty before she could start saying something: "I don't want to hear any buts Miss Jones, you're clearly in danger to overdo yourself and I need you at a hundred percent at OPS. Since you've started working, I've always known how much effort you put in at work but there's always a time where you need to slow down a little bit and take some time for yourself." Nell had to admit to herself, that Hetty was right with everything she said, that wisdom of the Operations Manager had always been very impressive and so Nell finally replied: "You're so right, I guess I'll pack up my things and then I'm out of here to take some long needed rest."

"A very wise decision Miss Jones, take as much time off as you want because Ops is definitely going to function without you for a few days." Hetty said before Nell finally went downstairs to pack her things and head home.

Later as Nell was already sitting in her Mini Cooper she thought: *_should I maybe visit Eric today? Of course It will be weird at first because he doesn't remember me right now, but I guess that I just have to reintroduce myself to him.* _Meanwhile back at the hospital, Eric was busy with eating the lunch for today but the food clearly didn't taste that good as he was used to from home.

_*Is hospital food always that bad or do I just have the misfortune to be at the hospital where the food is that bad?* _He thought back to the visits of his team members this week, Callen also telling him about that woman Nell Jones who seemed to his partner now and he really wished that he could remember all of that what he heard from them but all of these memories where just out of reach right now.

He also met Kensi's new partner: Detective Marty Deeks from LAPD and had been kind of shocked as Kensi had told her, that her former Dominic Vail had died years ago as he was being killed by terrorists. Of course all this new information had been kind of overwhelming to him, knowing that he wasn't able to remember eight years would be hard to take for everybody. He was interrupted in his thoughts as he heard a knock a soft knock on the door, of course he wondered who that was right now but then he finally said: "Please come in."

Being a little shy at first Nell just slowly entered the room, softly closed the door behind her and said: "Hello I'm Intelligence Analyst Nell Jones, one of your colleagues at NCIS OSP and we have been partners for a couple of years at work and because of your memory loss I think that we get to know each other a little better. I start with telling a little bit about myself and then its turn okay?"

"Oh okay that's sounds very interesting, maybe that will fill up some blanks considering you." Eric replied with a little smile on his face and then he waited for Nell to start with her little monologue about herself. "I guess…I start with how I ended up at NCIS in the first place: I first met Hetty Lang, our boss shortly after I had graduated from Caltech University, not being totally sure at that time what to do with my life and just doing three jobs at the time to get my little apartment paid in LA. "

_AN: Thanks to-Bard 15 for reviewing the story and thanks to- NCIS and PLL are life for reviewing the story. Please read and review_


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

„I met Hetty for the first time at a bad paid service job; one of my three jobs a long time ago because I wanted to be financially independent from my parents that bad. That one day I served her table the entire evening, she beginning a conversation with me out of the blue what really surprised me but in the end she seemed so nice and yes of course I wanted her to give me a lot of tip, because that was really the only good thing in this job. " Eric had listened to Nell's little story the entire time, even if it had been a little bit difficult for him to follow her because she spoke so fast but because of the fact, that he didn't want to be rude he let her finish up this little tale.

Nell finally took a little break, realizing herself that she had been talking like a waterfall for the last minutes and certainly didn't want to bore Eric in any way, so she finally asked him: "I'm sorry, I hope I don't talk too fast for you and if so that's one of my stupid personality flaws that I have besides having the tendency to finish other people's sentences. "

"Oh don't worry about that, I'm just fine with the speed you talk and please continue because I want to hear more about you." Eric smiled at her weak and then thought: _*She seems nice even if I only know her for almost half an hour now.* _

"Okay where was I...oh yes! So, I and Hetty talked the entire time she was present at the restaurant both of us starting to get to know each other better by me starting to tell something about me. After I had told her about graduating from Caltech just recently and that I had skipped some classes in school because of my high IQ, she said to me in a very astonished tone: Okay that's an impressive resume but I think working as a waitress is maybe a waste of your talents, that you have and maybe just don't know about yet. Of course I was a little confused at first, didn't know what to say at first and then I finally asked: "Are you offering me job?"

Hetty now had a smile on her face and replied without hesitating very much: "Yes, a job where we could really use people like you Miss Jones but there's one catch with this out of the ordinary job. If you choose to accept it, you will be working for a secret branch of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service or shorter: NCIS, the Office of Special Projects and that means you can tell nobody what you can actually do for a living exactly but the job is certainly better paid then this one."

"She then gave me her card, told me that I should take all the time I need for thinking about the job offer and that I could start working at OPS immediately if I decided to take the job in the end." Nell then just stared at Eric for moment thinking for moment: _*somewhere deep down in your mind, are all the memories about the wonderful time we've spent together and I will somehow bring them back.* _

Without her noticing one little tear escaped down one of her cheeks and that made Eric ask with a concern tone in his voice: "Hey…is everything alright? " Nell quickly wiped that one tear away, fighting very hard to keep her emotional walls up but thinking about the fact, but this special situation which she never had experienced before made that very hard.

After a long awkward silence between them Eric finally said: "So… I guess it's my turn to tell something about me now. I also came to NCIS right after College; I am a German- American, love surfing very much and spent a lot of my free time in social networks. "Eric finally put the tablet with the lunch away and made a mental notice to himself, to ask the doctor when he would be allowed to go back home.

Nell of course had noticed that Eric had ditched his hospital lunch, not having eaten very much of it and that reminded her of the awful hospital food the few times she had to spent some time in a hospital. As always when she was nervous, Nell began to slowly tap her feet on the floor of the room because of that one question keep popping up in her head: _Should I tell him that we have more than just friends for about four years?* _In her head she tried to weigh the pros and cons in this situation and as this whole thing got a little to awkward for her she just blurted out: "Me and you…have been a little bit more than friends for about four years now."

Eric now clearly had a very stunned expression on his face, because he definitely hadn't seen that one coming and that made Nell kind of feel totally embarrassed right now. _*I really shouldn't have said that out loud! What the hell was I thinking?* _Realizing that both of them felt totally uncomfortable in this situation and that he also really was tired a little, he finally said: "I think we better continue you this tomorrow because I'm getting a little tired right now. "

"Okay, then I'll see you tomorrow and I will bring along some photos that may be able to fill some of your lost memory."

"Nice, I definitely look forward to seeing you again tomorrow and it's been nice to have you here…Nell." Eric replied right before Nell was closing the door of his room behind her. As his visitor had finally left all he could think about was one thing: _Me and her being a couple for about four years, that's definitely nice and at the same time it frustrates me so much, that I still don't remember that.*_

_AN: Thanks to- Tiva-McAbby-Densi-Neric-4ever for reviewing this story, Thanks to-Stephenlongboard for reviewing this story and thanks to- Sassy Classy NCIS LA-Lover for reviewing this story._


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

_Three Days later_

Early in the morning Doctor Myers came into the room, a little smile on his face and said: „Good Morning Mister Beale, I Hope you have slept well and because of the very good looking last test results you're finally free to go home." Eric would have probably jumped in the air out of pure excitement when the last stitches weren't still there and his muscles hadn't been used in a quite a while. So instead he just replied with a big grin on his face: "That's very good news Doctor Myers, but what do you suggest about my memory loss?"

Of course the Doctor had expected that question from his patient and had been quite frustrated because of this whole memory loss situation but in a very gentle tone he assured him: "I know you are frustrated but let me you, that the best chance to get your memory back is in the environment you have known for several years. I strongly suggest that you stay with someone, because your muscles need to be trained again after just lying in a hospital bed all day and that also means no heavy lifting." As Callen and Sam came by to visit Eric again later that day after lunch time, the first thing he told them was of course the good news: "Hey guys I'm finally being released today, so that means no more disgusting hospital food."

"That's nice to hear Eric; did you start to remember some things lately?" Callen asked, of course asking himself a lot lately how long it was going to take for Eric finally being able to remember all these missing years that were out of his reach because of the concussion he got from the hit and run.

"I've just remembered some little fragments of these years that I can't remember: Dom missing and then turning up dead and my girlfriend Maria Parsons dying in a car accident and me crying at her funeral." Sam could see the disappointed look on the tech Operators face and said: "Don't give up yet Eric, you will get the rest of your memory back very soon I promise." Eric sighed shortly, remembering for a moment the time that he had spent with Nell Jones, his partner and also his girlfriend what she maybe had accidently blurted out on her first visit but somehow the two seemed to be on the same page.

"I hope you're right about that Sam because I really want to remember especially Nell, I'm not that sure but somehow I sense that we have some kind of special connection." Eric was so frustrated that only so much negative memories had flooded back into his mind as he had looked through his personal photos, that Nell had brought him to the hospital in the hope of triggering maybe some memory.

The three continued to talk for a while, till the Callen and Sam decided to go and Callen said before he closed the door behind him and Sam: "Bye Eric, take care of yourself and don't come back until you're a hundred percent fit okay?"

"Of course I will do that Callen and thanks for the visit you two." Eric replied and then he was finally back alone in the room and felt a little lonely right now. So he reached into one of the drawers of the little nightstand on the right sight of his bed and got out his mobile phone, what was still charged as he looked at the display.

He put in the numbers of Nell's cell phone, anxiously waited for her to pick up and finally he heard her voice say: "Hey Eric, how are you feeling today?"

"I'm doing very good and I've got very good news: I'm finally getting released out of the hospital, so I wanted to ask you…If you could pick me up from the hospital?" Nell didn't need to think about that for long: "Of course I will pick you up from the hospital and of course I will take the couch when you come back to our apartment."

"No I'll take the couch; you will get the bed because I'm a gentleman." Eric replied and that made Nell smirks a little on the other end of the phone and made her think: _Does the old Eric finally come back now? _"Okay that's fine with me." Nell said and then she finally ended the call. In two hours she would pick up Eric and take him home to their apartment, now grinning from ear to ear, she cleaned up the apartment a little bit so that everything would look extra nice at Eric's arrival and right now she just felt like she was flying on Cloud Nine.

Back at OPS the news of Eric being released had spread fast in the office, Deeks being the first to ask: "Is he going to stay with Nell at their apartment? I mean it's definitely going to be weird for him at first to realize that is living under one roof with a person that's still a total stranger to him."

"Yeah it's going to be weird for them both I think at first but I know that they will be fine." Kensi replied because she deep down knew that Eric would soon be able to remember Nell again. Callen then also looked up from his paperwork he was doing to add his opinion to the whole discussion: "Kensi is absolutely right and with him starting to remember some things, even only the bad ones for now is a very good sign in my opinion. " Later that day Nell finally picked up her partner from the hospital, he telling of course that he had started to remember some things again, even if it only had been the bad ones at first. "It's a very good sign that you start to remember things from the past years and I will do everything that I can to help you get back the rest of the memories."

Eric then smiled at her and there was that feeling in his gut again, deep down having the feeling that he has known her for a couple of years not just a few days.

_AN: I've got no reviews on the last chapter, I hope that you the readers like this one and If you do I would extremely happy if you hit the review button and tell me what you think about the story so far and please don't hesitate to put also some suggestions in to improve the quality of the story._


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Nell then finally parked her car in front of the apartment, which she and Eric had been sharing for quite a while now and maybe some of the good memories considering the wonderful time that they had spent together her would hopefully come back in this environment. She helped her partner out of the car, then handed him the crutches that the doctor had given him because of the fact that his feet weren't ready yet to be used in full capacity again and then the two went inside the apartment.

With the imaginary wheel beginning to spin in his mind, as he and Nell stood in the living room of the apartment he finally asked her after taking a little bit of the room in: "So…how long do we live one apartment exactly?"

"We live together in this nice little apartment for almost four years now; I'll give you a little tour now so that you have a better idea where everything is." Nell replied and then she began to show around the apartment that would hopefully get used to again very soon. Eric listened to every word Nell had to say, and even if he didn't know her that well right she just couldn't help staring at her shortly from time, clearly hoping that she wouldn't notice his love sick teenager behavior because it was a little embarrassing to him. "You will be sleeping here on the couch, isn't that comfortable to sleep on I can assure and my offer still stands, that I take it instead of you because I want to feel as comfortable as possible on your first night back from the hospital." Nell then said as they were standing at the couch in the living room but Eric shook his head and said: "Thanks for your offer but don't worry, I'll be okay with sleeping here and you taking the bed."

"Oh okay…that's fine with me and I'm not sleeping very far away from you, so if you need anything don't hesitate to ask." Nell said and then she went into the little kitchen of the apartment, filled a glass with water for herself and Eric and handed then it his glass to him. The two sat down together on the couch, Nell of course leaving some space between them because she surely didn't want Eric to feel uncomfortable in any way in her presence. The two sat there just in silence for a few minutes, after one special picture caught Eric's attention: He and Nell in weird looking costumes, he laying his right around her tiny figure and both of them brightly smiling into the camera. He sipped on more time on his glass of water and then he asked: "When was that picture taken?" He again pointed at the framed picture that stood on wooden shelf next to the TV and anxiously waited for Nell's reaction to his question.

Nell couldn't help but grin widely as she had a look at the picture, which Eric pointed to right at this moment and answered: "That was taken on Christmas 2008 and trust me I had some persuading to do to get you into that elves outfit. On that same evening before we went to hand out some presents to Marine kids, me and you kissed for the first time." Remembering their first ever kiss made her very nostalgic for a while, because that one moment had been one thing that she would probably never ever forget.

"It surely must have been one great evening, I really hope that I'll able to remember that again very soon because I want to remember ALL about you." Eric said after a short silence and out of frustration one little tear came down one of his cheeks, as Nell saw that happening she quickly wiped this one away by softly touching him maybe just a second with one hand.

Very unsure in what she should do next, she just stared deeply into Eric's eyes their faces now only being inches away from each other. Both of them certainly didn't want to do something, that they would probably regret in the end or was this the time to risk something? Nell finally let go of all her doubts, softly kissed Eric on the mouth, who was surprised at first but then he thought to himself: _I don't know why but this just feels like the right thing to do right now. _So he opened his mouth for her tongue, started to kiss her back and right at that moment the memory of the Christmas kiss came flooding back into his mind.

_AN: Thanks to- Sassy Classy NCIS LA Lover for reviewing this story, Thanks to- Stephenlongboard for reviewing this story, Thanks to- densidoodle for reviewing this story, Thanks to- Tiva-McAbby-Densi-Neric-4ever for reviewing this story. Please hit the review button, tell me what you think about the newest chapter and I hope that I'm not rushing Eric's recovery ._


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The two finally drew away from each other, an awkward silence standing between them for a couple of minutes because mainly Eric was overwhelmed from all the emotion that now came overtook him because of the kiss. Surely he had now remembered the kiss under the mistletoe, but he wanted to get back all memories that the two definitely shared a lot of and not knowing how it would for him to remember the rest clearly frustrated him.

Nell finally decided to break the silence by saying: "I don't know about you…but I'm getting hungry." She felt a little bit uncomfortable right now, because somehow she had the gut feeling that Eric regretted the kiss but maybe she was only getting too much paranoid at this moment. Also she couldn't resist thinking: _Did I maybe do something stupid by kissing him this early or did help to get at least one tiny bit of memory about me back? _That question was surely tough to answer, she didn't even know if she really wanted to busy her mind with that burden right now but was quickly taken out of thoughts anyway by Eric: "Something to eat sounds very nice…Nell, what are you cooking for us?" Because she didn't want him to think, that something was bothering, she put on her best fake smile she could do right do and said: "That is a surprise, so I suggest that you just relax on the couch a bit maybe watching some TV if you want while I am preparing the dinner for us."

"Ok I will…do that Doctor Jones." Eric said with a little grin on his face, making Nell laugh shortly and made her very optimistic that it wouldn't take so long for him to recover. Nell then walked into the kitchen, getting ready to prepare dinner for her and Eric and in her mind that one kiss just kept playing back and she couldn't help but wonder if it had been a mistake.

Meanwhile back in the living room, Eric carefully dropped down on the couch and took some time to take in his surroundings maybe he would remember something about that still mysterious person, which she still was to him even if he sensed that there had to be some kind of special connection between them. He then reached for the remote of the TV, zapped through the channels but deep down he was more focused on that magical moment that he and Nell had shared and it frustrated him so much that he still couldn't access the rest of his memory. _Will things be weird between us because I've got the slight feeling that she regretted the kiss and I could understand that somehow deep down. _Back at Kensi's apartment, she was reading through a nice book that she had bought in her rare free time but her thoughts were clearly with Nell, the red headed tech that had become the dream team of OPS with Eric after some slight difficulties at the beginning. This whole situation must be really hard on her: The person that she loved so much for a couple years, now didn't remember one single about her and that surely Kensi asked herself in that moment how she would react, if she was in Nell's shoes.

Of course she and Deeks where just good friends, Kensi would probably never feel the way Nell is feeling about Eric but that didn't mean that it wouldn't hit her as hard as the read headed Intelligence Analyst. The brunette really hoped that things would soon be back to normal again and surely she was so happy for the both techs, Nell finally finding Mister Right after she had suffered so much in her last relationships. Kensi and Eric were the only that she told about the bad experiences she had with men in the past: Drunken Boyfriends that had hit her, one had even stolen money from her and the only one, that seemed like a good guy had cheated on her behind back and tried to blame it all on the girl that he had an affair with.

Finally Kensi grabbed her phone to dial Nell's home phone number, because she figured that her friend might want to talk to somebody right now and she also wanted to know how Eric was feeling. Nell was totally busy with cooking when she heard the phone ring from the corridor that lead to the living room, quickly she took care of the pasta before she then practically ran to the landline phone.

"I'll get it." Nell yelled through the open door that lead to the living room and with a little smile on her face she finally picked up the phone: "Hey Kens, what's up?" She asked as casually as much as she was able to right now and hoped that the cover up worked.

"Hey Nell I just wanted to ask how Eric is doing so far?" Her gut telling her that this whole situation must be really hard on the red headed Intelligence Analyst, even if she maybe didn't want to let her emotional walls down most of the time because she had been burned so much in the past by showing too much emotion. After taking her time with the answer she finally said: "Eric is doing as fine as he can under the circumstances but I may have done…something stupid."

Kensi was really surprised by this confession from her friend and replied: "You know that you can tell me everything Nell."

"I kissed Eric and I now I maybe regret it."

_AN: Thanks to- Sassy Classy NCISLA Lover and to Tiva-McAbby-Densi-Neric-4ever for reviewing this story. I hope you like this chapter, please read and review._


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Kensi clearly didn't know what to say for a minute because she was not shocked because of Nell kissing Eric, it was the fact that she may regret it: „But that's such a nice thing Nell, maybe it helped him a little more to remember you. So why do you exactly regret right now?"

"I just have the feeling that it was too early, in the end nobody knows how long it will exactly take for him to get the rest of the memories back and I really don't want things to be weird between us in the meantime." Nell replied because of the fact that she first started to doubt herself as there was a very awkward silence between the two but remembering the words from the Doctor, Nell was now totally unsure of what to think: _Is Kensi may be right? Did that kiss between us did trigger some memory in his head?_ Of course there was a slight possibility that Eric's memories about her were starting to come back slowly but in the end that was all nothing more than speculation right now, because he hadn't say anything considering that to her since this whole "thing" happened and sadly she couldn't see into his head .

Kensi could now understand her friends position a little bit better and she tried her best to give her a little pep talk:" You've got to talk to him about what has happened, ask him if he is starting to remember things about you because that's the best alternative to trying to sweep it under the rug because it maybe an uncomfortable topic for the both of you."

"Yeah you're right Kensi and thank you so for always being such a good advice giver in the past." Nell said and now was really happy to finally have the courage to talk about the whole thing that has happened between them today. The two then finally ended the call, Nell almost being too caught up in her thoughts that she forgot about the pasta cooking in the kitchen but she quickly ran to the boiling pot on the stove and made sure that the water didn't boil over. As she was later busy with making final preparations for dinner, she kept asking herself the same question over and over again: _How do I handle this very delicate matter the best, so that I don't destroy the trust in me he has right now? _ Of course nobody said it was going to be easy but no way or another she would have to bring this "thing" up because Kensi was totally right. Finally she put the dinner on the table and as she put his plate in front of him he immediately said with big eyes: "This looks really great and I bet it also tastes good."

That compliment made Nell blush for a slight second, but she quickly focused back on her pasta and deep down she was thinking about how she could approach the whole kiss thing the best way without it sounding totally weird in the end.

The two were eating for some minutes when Nell finally put down her fork and asked Eric: "Can we talk about the whole "thing" that has happened in the living room in the afternoon?" Eric of course wondered about what she exactly wanted to talk about: maybe that she regrets the whole thing? He surely hoped that this wasn't the case and for him this one kiss had been pure magic, even if Nell was still such a big stranger to him. "I remembered this exact Christmas that I saw a picture of us during our kiss and the butterflies in my stomach were really active the whole time." She surely hadn't seen that one coming and with that confession, all of her doubts were blown away in a matter of seconds. With a big smile on her face she replied: "It's so great that you remember that one special kiss and I'm pretty sure that it won't take so much longer now to get the rest of your memory back."

She hesitated first, because she didn't know if it was an appropriate gesture at this time but then she finally hugged Eric tightly and wanted to show him that he got all her support no matter what.

Eric didn't feel a bit uncomfortable in Nell's arms and so he enjoyed this whole moment for a few minutes with a little smile on his face and he surely hoped that she was right in the end. Meanwhile back at Kensi's apartment, Deeks had come by to have a little movie night with her at her apartment and as he was busy with prepping the snacks at the couch table Kensi was busy with choosing a movie from her big DVD collection. Of course she really missed the presence of her colleague Eric at work and was also asking herself over and over again how this whole memory loss thing would take to disappear: _It will definitely take some more time for him to fully recover, I guess I can be very inpatient in some cases. _ But one thing was sure of course: Eric would be back at work together with Nell very soon and how long it took didn't actually matter so much in the end, because they all just needed to keep up their confidence that Eric was going to fight to get through this.

Eric and Nell had finally drawn away from each other again, continued to eat their food, Eric of course couldn't stop saying how good the pasta tasted and Nell just answered being totally flattered by that: "Thanks Eric I appreciate your compliment." This time she couldn't avoid the fact, that Eric saw her blushing and him just smiling at her with one of his irresistible smiles just might would have made her knees buckle if she wouldn't be sitting right now. While they were totally busy with eating, Eric couldn't help but think about his dead girlfriend Vanessa, because to him it felt like it was yesterday that he had heard off her death from the doctor at the hospital on this one very bad day a couple of years ago. _Does one part of me maybe still misses her? The other important question certainly is: What do I exactly feel for Nell, just friendship or something more?_ Maybe he did indeed miss Vanessa, maybe one part of his mind no struggles again to come to terms with the death of the woman he loved.

But he certainly couldn't talk with Nell about this one, because he had the slight feeling that it would hurt her feelings because his gut told him that the two of them were something more than friends, even if he just couldn't remember that fact fully.

_AN: Thanks to- Sassy Classy NCISLA Lover and Jessiqua for reviewing this story. Don't forget to read and review, I hope you like this chapter and constructive critic is always welcome._


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Nell surveyed Eric without wanting him to notice it and deep down she had a gut feeling that something was really bothering right now and of course she asked herself, if she should try to get him to open to her. The two continued to eat in silence, Nell finally deciding not to talk about whatever was on his mind right now because she really didn't want to force him to reveal anything of his inner thoughts to her.

_He will certainly come and talk to me when he thinks that the time is right, I totally respect that because we just have to build the trust in each other because of his memory loss. _

_One Week later_

Eric was now at least psychically back to a hundred percent and it definitely made him very to finally get rid of the crutches. Some more memories would come back over the week, like the first day of Nell at NCIS and that the two had their difficulties at the beginning because of Nell's little personality flaws. Deeks was also happy to hear, that Eric now finally remembered him again and as the whole team sat together in their favorite bar one evening Deeks asks: "I guess I can speak for everybody in the team that we are really happy to see you walking without that ugly crutches, how are feeling right now buddy?" The tech had smile on his face, yes it really was a great thing to finally get rid of the crutches and now he just wanted one thing: Get back the rest of his memories, especially those that involved Nell.

He finally then replied: "I'm feeling better than after the first day of the accident but I just wish that I would also get back the rest of my memories, because as I looked through the various photos of events that I don't remember yet, I feel somehow very incomplete." In the end was very glad for the support of all his colleagues and before he had been released out of hospital, he had and Doctor Myers had made an appointment for a check- up back at the hospital in three weeks so that the Doctor could check how good the injuries had healed since his release from the hospital.

Eric would of course be happy to report the great progress that he made with the help of Nell to get back so much wonderful memories, even if there was still some surely memorable moments that he had with Nell that he wasn't able to remember just yet. "Yeah I can't how hard this must be, but I promise you one thing: The whole team will be there for you to support you and together we will get through this difficult time buddy." The LAPD Liaison Officer said and patted his colleague shortly on the back. "Very well said Deeks, I didn't know that you could say such insightful things and now a toast to Eric." Callen and the others lifted their glasses on by one and deep down Eric was kind of touched a little bit by this very nice gesture from his teammates.

Nell smiled at Eric as the their two glasses touched shortly, the two of them had grown a lot closer the past week and he said after both of them had shortly sipped on their glasses, Eric said: "Thank you…Nell for everything." Nell shortly blushed because of that, even if she didn't know why she was acting like some freshly in love teenager again but then she finally replied: "You're welcome Eric, besides my family and the rest of the team you have become such an important person to me and I'm so glad that I could be such of great help for you the past week. " The two then shortly hugged each other, Eric didn't feel a bit uncomfortable as he did at the beginning, and he felt very secure in her arms and enjoyed every minute of it.

Unnoticed to the two techs, the rest of the team watched them interact with each other and all of them were really happy to see things between the two geeks were slowly but surely going back to normal. The team kept on talking for quite some time, till the most of them except of Nell and Eric parted ways and Nell said as they were finally alone at table: "This was a really nice evening; I love just hanging out with the team outside of the work environment."

"I can't wait to get back to work and of course I missed it a lot to spend some time with the team outside of work." Eric replied and even spending time with Nell at home was great, he had missed work very much from the first day he had finally left the hospital. The two finally then emptied their drinks, together they walked to Nell's red mini cooper and on the drive Eric was very much busy with thinking about the one question, that bugging him for quite some time: When would he finally get back the rest of his memory?

They didn't stay awake for that long on that evening because both of them got tired really quick, Nell being the first falling asleep on Eric's shoulder, he smiled shortly as he looked at her sleeping peaceful looking form and went through her hair with one hand. Finally his eyes also closed even if he had tried very hard to fight against it but his dream wasn't that peaceful as he had wanted.

_Flashback_

_He was walking down a street with coffees in his hands, as he looked down to his shoes he realized that the shoe lace of his right shoe was open. A car was nowhere to be seen so he reached down to his shoes quickly to take of the little problem, but before he could get up he just felt a huge pain and quickly all around him went black, the last picture he saw was coffee being spilled all over the street._

_End Flashback_

Now also some other short sequences kept flashing back in his mind, all that happened at this one catastrophic day but one picture scaring him the most: He practically flying through the air for a few seconds and as he landed on the floor he had a big wound at his forehead. With a scream he jolted awake, what made Nell wake up immediately and so she quickly came into the living room where Eric slept on the couch and asked him: "What happened Eric?

"I remember everything…what happened at the day of the accident!" Eric blurted out and Nell could see the disturbed look on his face and just tightly hugged him.

_AN: I hope you liked this chapter and if you do, please hit the review button and tell me what you think about this chapter and I would of course a add to your favorite stories list._


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

_AN: This is the final chapter of the story, I hope you like this chapter and I would really happy if you hit_

_the review buttons after you're done with reading and tell me what you think._

_One Month later_

Eric had forgotten soon about the concussion even happening, he was just happy to be able again to do the work he loved so much since the beginning. It had been difficult of course to find back to the working routine, but in case he would forget something during briefing for example Nell was always there by his side to be his second "mind" so to speak.

Right now the two were sitting at an Italian restaurant, both of them eating one of their shared favorite meals Spaghetti and the whole evening he hadn't been able to take one look away from the stunning dress that his girlfriend wore tonight. He finally paused eating, placing his fork softly on the side of his plate and said as he held onto her hand: "I can't thank you enough for the support during the concussion and afterwards, because I really don't know what I would have done without your help and you're just…an amazing person and I will surely love you always Rockstar."

Nell was totally amazed by that little speech from Eric, even didn't know what to exactly reply to that because never ever had anyone of her previous boyfriends had said something like that to her. As she had finally recollected herself, she then replied with trying her best not to blush: "You're welcome Eric; you will surely have my support whenever you need and I love you too also, because you mean the world to me." He squeezed her hand shortly, even got lost in her wonderful hazel eyes like most of the times and then the two finally continued to eat their spaghetti. Meanwhile the rest of the team was having their after-work drink at their favorite bar and of course the two geeks from OPS where one of the many topics they talked about during the long evening: "Seeing those two secretly flirting with each other during the day is so cute, I walked in on an almost kiss between the two at one time but I quickly pretended that I didn't see anything because I didn't want them to maybe feel a little embarrassed because they were almost caught in the act." Kensi said after she had sipped on her beer shortly and then Callen also said something: "Those two definitely had some feelings beyond friendship for each other for quite some time, I kind of admire the fact that they had kept it a secret for so long and the thing between him and Nell is surely going to last for a long time."

"I totally agree with you there G and I've got to say that I'm so happy for our two tech geeks." Sam said with a slight smile on his face and everybody in the team had thought for a very long time, that the two did make the cutest couple ever that was just meant to be together. On the table of the happy couple, stood one single red rose both of them enjoyed every moment of the evening and the two techs enjoyed some fine wine just for this one very special evening.

"So what's up with that surprise you have for me tonight?" Nell asked and really couldn't wait to see what her boyfriend had prepared for the rest of this wonderful evening. Eric just at her in response and then replied: "That's a big surprise Rockstar and you will have to wait a little bit longer before I finally reveal it." He had to admit to himself that he was really nervous about singing for Nell, because that was really one thing that he had never ever had done before for his one of former girlfriends and he hoped that she liked it.

The two were half way through the big menu that Eric had ordered for tonight, she had been really astonished by the great variety of food that was placed in front of her. Nell of course could be really impatient sometimes, that was maybe one of the few personalities flaws that she wasn't been able to get rid of just yet.

After the two were done with the final meal of the evening, Eric excused himself from the room to prepare himself for the little surprise behind the small stage in the restaurant and took one more deep breath before he mentally prepared himself for his big moment, keep hoping deep down that he didn't screw this up. Nell was now anxiously waiting for the big surprise to finally be revealed while she sipped on her drink a few times and wondered what the big surprise would be in the end. Finally one big spotlight was turned on at the stage and the band started to play the song, that Eric had prepared for tonight.

_It's hard for me to say the things _

_I want to say sometimes _

_There's no one here but you and me _

_And that broken old street light _

_Lock the doors _

_We'll leave the world outside _

_All I've got to give to you _

_Are these five words tonight_

[Chorus:]

_Thank you for loving me _

_For being my eyes _

_When I couldn't see _

_For parting my lips _

_When I couldn't breathe _

_Thank you for loving me _

_Thank you for loving me _

_I never knew I had a dream _

_Until that dream was you _

_When I look into your eyes _

_The sky's a different blue _

_Cross my heart _

_I wear no disguise _

_If I tried, you'd make believe _

_That you believed my lies _

_[Chorus:]_

_Thank you for loving me _

_For being my eyes _

_When I couldn't see _

_For parting my lips _

_When I couldn't breathe _

_Thank you for loving me _

_You pick me up when I fall down _

_You ring the bell before they count me out _

_If I was drowning you would part the sea _

_And risk your own life to rescue me _

_[Solo]_

_Lock the doors _

_We'll leave the world outside _

_All I've got to give to you _

_Are these five words tonight_

_[Chorus:]_

_Thank you for loving me _

_For being my eyes _

_When I couldn't see _

_You parted my lips _

_When I couldn't breathe _

_Thank you for loving me_

_When I couldn't fly _

_Oh, you gave me wings _

_You parted my lips _

_When I couldn't breathe_

_Thank you for loving me_

As the song finally ended, Nell got up from her place and applauded Eric with some little tears of joy coming down her cheeks, which she quickly wiped away with one hand before she ran onto the stage to tightly hug him at and whisper in his ear: "That was wonderful Eric."

Eric of course was happy to hear that from her, she passionately kissed him on the mouth and for quite some time the two geeks totally forgot everything around them because enjoying this special moment together was the only thing that counted for them right now.

_AN: I hope you've liked the story, please read and review and tell me what you think of the final chapter. Last but not least: A big thank you to all people, that have reviewed, put this story on their favorite stories list and added it to their story alert subscription._


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